The present invention generally relates to the manufacture of bi-component continuous filaments and articles made therefrom, including yarns and fabrics, and end-use applications thereof, preferably including floor coverings such as mats, rugs, and carpets. The present invention also is disclosed in patent application 201721011143 filed in India on Mar. 29, 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
Continuous filaments are well known in the textile industry. A continuous filament generally comprises a polymer material that is extruded as a long fiber. Such fibers can be twisted together and heat set to form strands of yarn. In turn, the yarn can be texturized for increasing bulkiness and for better wear resistance, and often such yarn is used in carpet as an alternative to carpets made using spun yarn comprised of staple fibers. Indeed, such bulked continuous filaments used in carpets sometimes are referenced as “BCF fibers”, and advances in technology both have resulted in the ability to create filament looks that were impractical in the past, and have made filament production faster and more economical than before Styles previously made using only spun yarn now are made using BCF fibers.
Various types of continuous filaments have been developed over the years and have been employed for a variety of uses based on the polymers used. Early examples can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,075,378 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,487, each of which has been assigned to E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. A bi-component continuous filament is a continuous filament made by extruding two different components that together form the long fiber; the two components generally comprise two different polymer materials that are extruded together. Some existing bi-component filaments have been designed by employing a sheath-core arrangement, in which a lower melting temperature polymer is used in forming a sheath component and a higher melting temperature polymer is used in forming a core component of the bi-component continuous filament. Bi-component continuous filaments made in this manner have been used in nonwoven webs to thermally bond the webs together.
Some existing yarns made from bi-component continuous filaments consist of a raw white (i.e., color-free) polymer component that has a fine count in texturized polyester pre-oriented yarn, which is typically made by spinning polyester chips of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polymer components of bi-component continuous filaments also can be dyed at some point after the bi-component continuous filament has been spun.
Unfortunately, many articles made from bi-component continuous filaments and yarns thereof undergo delamination over time, a degradation in which the polymer components begin to separate from one another. This especially occurs when high levels of wear and tear are involved, affecting integrity and long-term durability of such articles.
It is believed that one or more needs exist for improvement in the field of making bi-component continuous filaments and articles made therefrom, and for durable, resilient and/or color-fast bi-component continuous filaments and articles made therefrom that are capable of use across a wide range of articles including textile products, and particularly, floor coverings. These, and other needs, are believed to be addressed by one or more preferred embodiments of the present invention.